Man offers $10K for safe return of stolen dog named Bella

A South Carolina man is offering $10,000 for the safe return of his dog after someone stole his truck with the pet inside.

This undated photo provided by Ben Brengle shows his dog Bella. Brengle, of South Carolina, is offering $10,000 for the safe return of his dog after someone stole his truck with the pet inside. [Photo: AP]

The dog named Bella was inside Ben Brengle's truck when it was stolen last week from outside a home improvement store in North Charleston, Brengle said in a phone interview.

It was cold and rainy that Sunday before Christmas, so Brengle left the 2-year-old yellow Labrador mix in the truck with the engine running, he said. Brengle, a contractor, said he was only running inside to get some lumber and his vehicle was feet from the store's entrance.

By the time he returned minutes later, Bella and his white Chevy Silverado were gone, he said.

He and his family have checked the local shelters and have found no sign of his four-footed friend.

“She just sticks by my side, which is the hardest part, you know, that she’s out there alone. She’s got to be so scared, petrified,” Brengle said, according to WCIV-TV. “My family, myself, we’re all going through it. We all love her so much, but I can only imagine what she’s going through without me, without us.”

He's set up social media accounts in the hopes of spreading the message. In total, more than 1,200 people have followed the Instagram and Facebook accounts where Brengle posts pleas for help. In several posts, he notes that the roughly 40-pound pup has a pink nose, broken tail and will be extremely skittish.

Brengle says he only learned after Bella was taken that the dog he acquired as a rescue is equipped with an identifying microchip.

“One way or another we need to find her. She’s a rescue dog and has come a long way in terms of trust,” the posts say.